Issue 9, 2013
From the journal:

Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts

Biovolatilisation: a poorly studied pathway of the arsenic biogeochemical cycle

Adrien Mestrot,a   Britta Planer-Friedrichb  and  Jörg Feldmann*c  

* Corresponding authors

a Soil Science Group, Institute of Geography, Universität Bern, Hallerstrasse 12, 3012 Bern, Switzerland

b University of Bayreuth, Environmental Geochemistry, Universitaetsstrasse 30, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany

c TESLA (Trace Element Speciation Laboratory), Chemistry Department, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
E-mail: j.feldmann@abdn.ac.uk

Abstract

It has been known for over a hundred years that microorganisms can produce volatile arsenic (As) species, termed “arsines”. However, this topic has received relatively little attention compared to As behaviour in soils and biotransformation through the trophic level in the marine and terrestrial environment. We believe this is due to long-standing misconceptions regarding volatile As stability and transport as well as an absence, until recently, of appropriate sampling methods. First and foremost, an attempt is made to unify arsines' designations, notations and formulas, taking into account all the different terms used in the literature. Then, the stability of As volatile species is discussed and new analytical developments are explored. Further, the special cases of diffuse low-level emissions (e.g. soil and sediment biovolatilisation), and point sources with high-level emissions (geothermal environments, landfills, and natural gas) are comprehensively reviewed. In each case, future possible areas of research and unknown mechanisms are identified and their importance towards the global As biogeochemical cycle is explored. This review gathers new information regarding mechanisms, stability, transport and sampling of the very elusive arsines and shows that more research should be conducted on this important process.

Graphical abstract: Biovolatilisation: a poorly studied pathway of the arsenic biogeochemical cycle

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Article information

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1039/C3EM00105A
Article type
Critical Review
Submitted
24 Feb 2013
Accepted
06 Jun 2013
First published
07 Jun 2013

Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2013,15, 1639-1651

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Biovolatilisation: a poorly studied pathway of the arsenic biogeochemical cycle

A. Mestrot, B. Planer-Friedrich and J. Feldmann, Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2013, 15, 1639 DOI: 10.1039/C3EM00105A

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